Page 37 of Mated

I hear a vibration from the nightstand. It takes me a second to realize that my phone is ringing.

I answer it without looking at it. It’s probably one of my roommates wondering where the hell I went, or if they can have the ham salad I left in the refrigerator.

“Mngh?” I greet the caller.

“Channi Colton’s gone and got himself in trouble again. We need you.”

My aunt’s voice resonates through my phone, instantly making my stomach clench and twist in an unpleasant way. I’m back on the farm again, watching the crops burn. Thick smoke is choking me with every desperate breath.

“My new boss has taken me on a retreat…” I start to lie reflexively.

“You said you’d come back if we needed you! Colton’s in jail, and we haven’t got the money for the bail.”

“Can I just send money?”

“We need money, but we need you to come and look after your uncle, too. I need to make sure Colton stays out of trouble, and you know your uncle can’t be on his own for too long. You should never have gone to the city. Family is everything, and your family needs you.”

Guilt swells through me. I know I owe my aunt and uncle a debt I can never repay. They took me in and raised me when nobody else wanted me. I’ve been told every day of my life what they’ve done for me. I know I am going to have to go back.

And I also know Cain is going to be super mad if I so much as leave this room, much less go back to Wisconsin.

“I’ll be there soon,” I tell her. “I need to get some things ready, bus fare…”

She’s already hung up.

And just like that, I have another problem.

I don’t want to tell Cain where I come from, or rather, what my family is like. He wouldn’t understand. He’s one of the richest men in the world, and they are, well, rough around the edges, to say the least. If he met them, he’d realize that I came from what I know his pack would call trash. They already look down on me for my dilute genetics.

I have to go.

He’s going to be angry with me, but maybe this is for the best. I’ve already made a terrible impression, he said as much. Disastrous. That’s the word he used.

I am out of my depth here, and I am not what he thinks I am. I am not a suitable mate. I am not even a suitable door stop for a place like this. I’ve already humiliated myself twice. I know I’d only continue to do so over time.

I put on the most casual clothing I can find out of the selection that was brought from my apartment. Jeans. Sneakers. Ball-cap.

All Cain’s things are here too, of course, including his wallet. I hover over it. My aunt said she needed money, and I need some cash to be able to get home…

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

Cain

When I get back up to the room, Kira is missing. A thorough search of Denholm indicates she is not here, and following her scent leads out through the forest to the main road, where presumably she hitched a ride away from here.

She’s run away because of the snobbery of the pack and my own failure to integrate her into it successfully. She should have felt more welcome here than anywhere on the planet. It should have felt like she had finally come home to a family she had never realized she’d always missed.

Instead, one out-of-control, unmated female has humiliated her, and the pack has treated her like an irrelevance. It is all completely unacceptable.

Abel stands next to me at the side of the road where her scent disappears. “I am sorry, brother.”

I say nothing. I am far too furious to speak at this moment. Abel mistakes my silence for openness and starts talking far more than he should.

“It may be for the best. The mate bond is typically regarded as inviolate, but there are times in which following instinct is not the most advisable course.”

Abel is speaking, but it is Linus’ words coming out of his mouth. This has been discussed behind my back extensively. I knew thepack at large were talking, but I thought my own brother would refrain from gossip.

“You mean I should let the woman who gave herself to me, who allowed herself to be forever transformed by being with me, go, not knowing what happened to her, so I can choose a more convenient mate for the pack?”

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